Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, March 21: The Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday that the case against the contentious electoral bonds scheme be scheduled on April 11 so that it may be determined if a Constitution bench should hear it.
After comments from the petitioner’s solicitor that the issue is of constitutional importance and might influence the nation’s democratic politics, a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha issued the directive.
“This is an issue which impacts the democratic polity and funding of political parties.. This case should be heard by a constitution bench since this deserves an authoritative pronouncement by the court,” advocate Shadan Farasat said.
“Then we will hear it on April 11, 2023 to see if it should be referred to the Constitution bench,” the apex court said.
An electoral bond is a promissory note or bearer bond that can be acquired by any individual, business, or group of people as long as they are Indian citizens or have their corporate or legal headquarters there.
The multiple-denomination bonds were created with the express intent of funding the nation’s political parties within the framework that is now in place.
The introduction of electoral bonds was made possible by the Finance Act of 2017, which also altered the Representation of the People Act, the Income Tax Act, and the RBI Act. A system of electoral bonds that may be issued by any scheduled bank to support elections was established by the 2017 Finance Act. The Finance Act was approved as a money measure, hence Rajya Sabha’s approval was not necessary.
At least five changes to several legislation introduced by the Finance Act 2017 are being contested in a number of petitions before the Supreme Court on the grounds that they have made it possible for political parties to receive limitless, unrestricted funding.
A petition against a recent notification that extended the window for selling electoral bonds by 15 days in years with scheduled elections for State assembly and Union Territories with legislatures is currently before the Supreme Court.
The electoral bonds programme is said to be the most transparent by the Central government in their affidavit. The apex court had already rejected a request for a halt of the plan in March 2021. Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave stated during the hearing on Tuesday that the case is crucial and has to be heard as soon as possible.
The Central government requested further time to submit a comprehensive reply. The bench then announced that it will list the case for final resolution on May 2. Then, according to attorney Farasat, a Constitution bench should assess the situation. The case was then scheduled for April 11 by the bench.
